Bell Tower
by l0chn3ss
Summary: SoMa Bell Tower AU- Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world. / Updated with an alternate ending found in chapter two
1. Chapter 1

A long oneshot written inspired by FMG's steampunk au in her ResBang and the Bell Tower at my school~

Special thanks to fullmetalgrigori and keysamoguri for letting me spill my plot bunnies~ (very massive special thanks to fmg who beta'd this story)

Enjoy~

* * *

She was four when she met him and he was five.

Their families took a small tour on the same day at the same time at the same place. They found each other at a bell tower that hadn't played for centuries, for no one could figure out the controls or power the steam technology. Although, on that day, the bells began to chime again. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

They'd never once laid eyes on each other nor met before that moment. When they collided paths one cloudy afternoon under the arch of the entrance, their hearts sparked. They twined their fingers together and smiled knowingly, like the universe gave them a secret only they could ever hope to find. They didn't need to learn names, for what four and five year old wants to be burdened by formalities?

As their families walked around the building just below the bell tower, they slipped away. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

They climbed the stairs that were blocked off from the public eye, curious of the soft orange glow that came from fake candles on the side of the brick walls. Their feet carried them side by side and not one of them was faster than the other. Songs were sung and giggles echoed through the corridor.

When they reached the top of the tower- and mind you, it was a very tall tower—they came across a wooden door, open and inviting. They slipped in and closed the door. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

They entered an open place in the sky. It was like the clouds were in reach and the heavens themselves came down the greet them. The girl gently touched the boy's hand and they separated. She circled the strange place with a machine in the middle, eyeing the bells that towered above her. He went to the device itself, stroking the little knobs and keys that he found to be like piano keys. He pressed each one, imagining a tune as he poked each button.

She noticed a large lever to the side of the machine and called the boy over, pointing at the handle. They grabbed it, placing their hands on top of each other as they pulled then pushed downwards. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

Suddenly, a loud rumble shot through the building. It shook the floor under their feet and their hearts trembled. The girl felt soft arms envelop her and she pressed her face against the boy's shoulders. His eyes were shut and he gripped her hand tightly.

"I won't let you go. I'll protect you." Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

The girl nodded once, then twice, then vigorously shook her head up and down with her jaw set and her feet spread beneath her. She embraced him with her free arm and she spoke with a firm voice, "I'll protect you, too."

Then there was nothing. The sky stopped shaking and the ground became stable. They both fell to their knees, their foreheads touched and they were still locked together with their eyes sealed shut. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

The boy heard small gears turn and he couldn't risk a peek. He listened to the machine beside him whirl to life and steam whistling while it exited, warming up the air. He dared a glance above him and saw one of the bells move ever so slightly. He shook the girl's shoulder and pointed to the bronze. She peeled an eyelid back and saw the boy first, shaking his hands excitingly as his face lit with exhilaration.

A second later, the bells started playing in harmony. It ran through them like an electric current and pulled them towards each other as if they were magnetized. The vibrations were calming and soothing but loud to their sensitive ears. A song that was only theirs played for all to hear. Their ruby and emerald eyes met and sparkled. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

It was only after the song ended that their families found them, cuddling on the floor and filthy with dust. Their families apologized to each other, then to the tour guide, and finally made their children apologize too.

They separated that afternoon but their hearts felt lighter. He would never forget the beautiful forest that shone like emeralds in his eyes and she would never forget the flames that glistened like rubies in hers.

* * *

They met again when she was fifteen and he was sixteen.

Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

They both never forgot the jewels they found six years ago. Individually, they wandered through the halls of the bell tower often as they grew up, hoping to find each other against all odds. When they finally found something familiar evening in the rose garden beside the bell tower, they collided once more.

Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

* * *

They snuck into the bell tower every night for a year since that day where they exchanged anecdotes and tales of their lives. They talked about anything and everything, letting each other into their lives and welcoming the other's as well.

He found out that she was nobility and he told her he was too. They both lived in separate neighborhoods and belonged to different social groups within the wealthy circle. Her family was new money and his was old. Neither truly fit into their rightful place in their cruel world. They were too soft and warm to survive where people made each other suffer. They were too kind for such a life.

She told him her favorite flower was the euphorbia milii, because they were as red as his eyes. They were small and fleeting like the children they used to be, yet they were as bold and dynamic as his impact on her heart. They were the crown of thorns that latched onto her forever. His poison ran through her veins, incurable and eternal, but she welcomed it.

She learned his favorite flower was the helleborus viridis, because they were as green as her eyes. They were small and blossomed for only a fleeting time in the coldest season of the year, like her impact on his heart. They were the winter roses that held unspoiled elegance. Her poison was said to have the ability to summon demons and was powerful enough to kill Alexander the Great, causing madness and insanity, but he welcomed it.

It was only after a year that they realized they didn't know each other's names—so they shook hands. She was Maka and he was Soul.

He almost wanted her to keep her name hidden forever, lest he wake up from this dream and she'd vanish from his memory. He told her his worries and she swatted his arm, giggling at his absurd confession.

She whispered, "Even if you forget, I won't let you go."

Midnight struck at that moment. The bell tower sang their song that his younger self created and etched into the gears forevermore. The melody rang through their hearts like it did every night since that day eleven years ago.

The crown of thorns and the winter rose merged their poison that night. They didn't know who leaned in first or how their hands became tangled again. All they knew was that they became toxic and that nothing tasted sweeter.

* * *

Two years later, they took a stroll in the rose garden beside the bell tower. She was eighteen and he was nineteen. Their grassy path was lit by the blue glow of the full moon and Maka's cheeks were tinted pink.

They sat in the center of the garden's maze, surrounded by deep red roses, still hand in hand.

She asked him what his favorite season was and he told her it was spring, for it was dyed in her color and laced with her voice. It was the season of new life and she was his new beginning.

Soul watched her flush with a deeper shade of carmine and brushed the lovely tint with his thumb. He saw tiny snowflakes begin to descend, swirling around them in contrast to the darkness of their clothes. A single speck gently kissed her cheek and it transformed, slipping under his thumb.

He asked her what her favorite season was and she told him it was winter, for this was a moment they shared and she could never forget.

* * *

The next night, she stumbled into the open top of the bell tower, where he waited like he always had. Tears pricked her eyes at the sight of him and she gathered all of him in her arms. They held each other for what seemed like hours. Their knees gave out as soon as he silenced her hiccups with his lips and he dragged them over her swollen eyelids.

He whispered to her, but in the still of the night, it was almost deafening to her tuned senses. She answered his questions one by one with her unsteady, raw voice.

She was a noblewoman and he was a nobleman; it was a fate they never wanted. Her eyes clouded over once more. There were duties that nobles must do. She choked over her words. One of their many troubles finally caught up to her. He coaxed the last answer out of her.

She was of age to partake in a union between two families. She slowly brought her dainty hands to her sorrow-streaked face. He glared grimly at the wooden floor of the bell tower and he admitted that he received similar news only a few days ago.

Soul closed his fingers over hers and tapped his forehead once against hers. He rubbed the knots out of her back and then pressed himself against her tightly. His voice carried to her petite ears, drifting along the same breeze that carried snow to their feet.

He was a nobleman and she was a noblewoman; it was a fate they never wanted, but perhaps something could become right. He traced his thin fingers down her back. There were duties that nobles must do. He nearly sung each phrase. One of their many troubles may finally be good for them. He coaxed his irrational dreams to deliver to her.

What if they had been promised to each other?

He couldn't accept any answer other than the one he crafted for her sake. He had gone into a blind fury only a few days ago, howling until he lost his voice. He spoke no words that night when he met her at the top of the bell tower except the love he gave through peppering her body with kisses.

He cried again after Maka left him for the safety of her covers. He brought his knees to his chest and sat beside the machine that powered the bell tower. He wished for a miracle, for she was a beautiful winter rose and he was but a mere thorn latched to her side.

* * *

Later that summer, they each found the name of their new fiancés.

It wasn't Soul. It wasn't Maka.

They wept that night, wild and primitive as their hearts were shattered to hell. Their screams traveled above and bounced off the bronze bells of the bell tower and they vibrated with them.

Their toxin began to spread through their bodies as each one was racked with pain, noxious and too hot for the summer night. She was by no means lucid with her desires but she met his flame-licked rubies with her woe-filled emeralds. She pleaded silently to him, praying her poison had already spread and tainted his mind.

She wasn't disappointed.

He pulled her closer, luring out shivers despite the warmth of the air. He captured her trembling lip and they mixed, becoming deadly and polluting. She allowed his hands to wander like the many stolen nights they'd shared. She whispered to the air of the vile corruptions she wished he was bold enough to inflict. She desired for his color to dye hers before she became impure.

Who was he to deny her?

He moved his attention to her neck, stroking the flames of their passion until she gripped his hair with lust. He tore her thin, summer dress away from her pale skin as she ripped his loose, white shirt away from his chest. Her own sins traveled deeper down his torso and she whispered again of the blight she would infect upon his flesh.

They casted away their finery until they were bare before each other.

She asked him in that moment to escape with her, before she was wedded to another being. She begged him to run away from their languid world of nobles and to lead her astray of her duties.

He devoted himself to her in that moment, enticed by her for all she was.

"I won't let you go. I'll protect you."

"I'll protect you, too."

They resolved to liberate themselves on the night before her twentieth birthday, on the eve of the new year. They rooted themselves into each other, letting their toxins collide as the summer heat became too much for them to bear.

The bell tower rang as they drenched themselves in poison.

* * *

They met secretly for the last time on the eve of her birthday. She was twenty and he was twenty one.

Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

They both never forgot the jewels they found sixteen years ago. Together, they wandered through the halls of the bell tower like they had done as they were growing up when they found each other against all odds. When they reached the rose garden beside the bell tower, they collided once more, prolonging their lingering heat as the sun rose behind them.

Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

* * *

She approached the arch of the entrance first, gathering her dress in her fists as it dragged on the snowy pathway.

She slipped into the warmth of the lobby and turned left immediately. The way to Soul was engraved into her feet and she carried herself to the top of the tower where her lover was bound to be waiting. She saw the light fall of snow drift through the open door—as it always was- and slipped inside, hearing it click as the breeze closed it behind her. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

She walked around the bells of the tower after seeing that he hadn't arrived yet. She sighed with relief, for it gave her time to relax before they absconded, leaving their old life forever. She sat on the wooden floor, surrounded by snow and ice.

Midnight came and the bell tower began to chime the song he carved into the tower when he was only five years old. It tinkled and boomed above her in harmony. She looked to her right and saw sparks igniting—but this time, it wasn't from her heart. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

The machine smoked soot rather than steam and it screeched in discord. A spark and a glint of light later, the machine became aflame.

The flames descended to the wooden floor of the top of the bell tower, undeterred by the layer of frost that melted instantly. The vapor had no effect on the heat of the ever-growing fire. Her long dress caught aflame and she ran to the door, pushing the gateway with her frantic hands. It didn't budge, not once. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

The inferno licked her ankles and she became engulfed in smog.

He trudged through the thick sleet and he went a little faster after he heard the bells sing as they always did. He sighed with content as he came closer to Maka, but he hesitated for a second- something was amiss. The bell tower in front of him seemed to glow orange like a beacon and it was almost screaming, fitting with the song's mood, but... screaming? Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

The screams became louder and desperate as he came closer to the building. He lightly jogged to the arch of the entrance and then sprinted the last few meters. Black exhaust swirled around him and he witnessed the fire growing, writhing and twisting around the tower.

He screamed her name and pounded at the door under the archway. He felt Maka perishing in the sea of flames in the sky, shining like the explosion of a dying star. He kicked and clawed at the entrance, but it was locked shut. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

A loud crack shot through the winter night and a small tremor hit the earth underneath him. He tripped backwards, falling to the ground and looked up in time to see the embers flicker above him.

The tip of the tower loomed over him and seemed to come closer to him. He saw a figure falling and he was mesmerized by the sight. It was as if heaven and earth were meeting once more. He felt ash rain unto his face, then was hit by the weight of bricks that cascaded from the sky. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

Bells clanged and smashed together around him, crumbling to bits as they met with ice. He clutched his head and then she crashed on top of him. Her legs were eaten away by the blaze. Her dress still smoked from the collision of embers and snow. He dragged her away from the wreckage and into the maze of the rose garden beside the bell tower.

His head pounded and scarlet dripped from his hair to the frost. He collapsed next to her in the center of the garden, too dizzy to see the blaze spreading to every bush of roses beside them. It slowly encompassed them, trapping them in a fury of burning roses and thorns. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

He traced his shaking fingers down her face and she moaned with agony. He pressed his forehead against hers and he whispered into her ear. "I won't let you go. I will protect you."

She peeled back a single eyelid and she smiled softly at him, urging his hand to rest on her cheek. "I'll protect you, too." They closed their eyes for the last time as the thorny rose garden claimed them. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

Officials spread word that in the morning after the fire, two bodies were found in the ashes of the rose garden, only a few meters away from the remains of the bell tower. Their scarred bodies were beyond medical help and were too unrecognizable to identify. Their souls were gone before their earthly forms were discovered.

Workers reported that the top had not been accessed for sixteen years, for the wooden door had always been locked. It opened for the first time after two children snuck to the top a decade ago, but it never opened again. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

Others believed in the legends that revolved around the remains of the bell tower: Whenever the light of the full moon struck the top of the bell tower, it was possible to spot the silhouette of two mysterious individuals who appeared precisely at midnight. Residents believed that the ghosts of two young lovers haunted the bells. The door at the top was supposed to open only to those sneaking away to meet each other in secrecy, assisted by the woeful spirits. After the night of the fire, bypassers whispered of the mysterious tune that used to play every night at twelve o'clock for sixteen years- up until the inferno consumed the bells. It was as though the silence was cursing the city with the couple's sorrows. No one had an explanation for the two bodies that laid in center of the incinerated rose garden.

They never rebuilt the bell tower after the fire consumed it nor did another flower bloom on the blackened plot.

Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.


	2. Alt Ending

**A/N:** Someone asked me to write an alternative ending so here is the actual ending I was originally planning until I accidentally uttered the words "what if"

Pick and choose which ending you'd like to be canon, thanks for reading!

* * *

They met secretly for the last time on the eve of her birthday. She was twenty and he was twenty one.

Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

They both never forgot the jewels they found sixteen years ago. Together, they wandered through the halls of the bell tower like they had done as they were growing up when they found each other against all odds. When they reached the rose garden beside the bell tower, they collided once more, prolonging their lingering heat as the sun rose behind them.

Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

* * *

She approached the arch of the entrance first, gathering her dress in her fists as it dragged on the snowy pathway. But it was the least of her worries now that she had something else to look forward to.

She slipped into the warmth of the lobby, shivered off her cold, and turned left immediately. The way to Soul was engraved into her feet and she carried herself to the top of the tower where her lover was bound to be waiting. She saw the light fall of snow drift through the open door—as it always was– and slipped inside. The breeze inched it closed behind her as she entered the open aired room, but she caught it before it could click shut. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

Maka walked around the bells of the tower after seeing that he hadn't arrived yet. She sighed with relief, for it gave her time to relax before they absconded, leaving their old lives forever and joining together. She sat on the wooden floor close to the door, surrounded by snow and ice but satisfied with the heat of the hallway rising to greet her.

Midnight came and the bell tower began to chime the song that Soul had carved into the tower when he was only five years old. It tinkled and boomed above her in harmony. She looked to her right and saw sparks igniting, just as the old bell tower should, it's old age showing. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

The tune wasn't haunting to her anymore, it was an old friend as it's creator. She laid her head against the wall, putting a hand on the wall behind her as she felt the vibration of the bells ring through. They were cleansing, willing away the stress from her shoulders and her fear from her mind.

Naturally, she had her qualms about leaving the town she'd grown up in. Her father would never forgive her and there was a comfortable life waiting if she gave into her fate. But she wanted to write a new chapter, one where Soul existed and one where she would never have to part with him again. There were no regrets in her decision, it was the path she'd chosen- the one they'd both chosen. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

Snow fluttered onto her lashes as she waited for her next life to begin- as she waited for Soul.

He trudged through the thick sleet and he picked up the pace after he heard the bells sing as they always did. He sighed with content as he came closer to Maka, but he hesitated for a second. For a moment, he wanted to turn back, to leave before he stole Maka away from this place- before he stole away her happiness on accident. Did he really deserve this ending, he questioned himself. Almost like it was answering him, the bell tower in front of him seemed to glow like a beacon, calling him with it's music. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

He was a fool. They were a choice when everything else was already given to them, a choice that they would always made regardless of what was to come. Soul adjusted the bag on his back, careful not to jostle it too roughly but enough for him to move more quickly.

She was waiting for him, and a gentleman didn't keep his lady waiting. He ran to the tower, hopping with excitement with almost every step. The sky and earth could meet, but still he would go to her as long as she wanted him. His legs were as light as snow and his heart held a budding fire, ready to burst to flames at the mere thought of meeting Maka again for the final time. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

After tonight, they would never have to part again, never have to live under a guise nor pretend to be a mystery. They could finally walk in public and he could finally see what color her beautiful skin would be during the day. Although she was ethereal under the light of the moon, she was his sun.

He flew up the stairs, dashing up three or so steps at a time- anything to get to her faster. Before he reached the top though, a sudden gust of wind and snow caused the door to fly open as if it were just for him. The bells chimed it's last note, and the world fell back into silence. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

His head poked through first. There was no one in the room, he thought, but he refused to be disappointed, believing that Maka would show- praying that she would. Soul stepped into the pinnacle of the tower, the cold causing him to wrap his arms around himself before walking around the machinery in the middle.

He took this time to catch his breath again, to quell the worries and to ready himself for her to appear. The snow begun to fall a little heavier as it was blown in through the wide space between the columns and into his face. He shivered slightly, closing his eyes as he continued to pace. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

She was coming, he repeated to himself. She will be here. It was difficult for him to trust his own word, but he refused to be wrong about them now. They'd grown up together, stuck forever where they met as children, locked in a room where they could only meet in secrecy. If time meant anything to him, it was only because he was able to spend it with Maka.

As he rounded the corner, a sharp breeze caused him to peek at his surroundings. And there she was, fallen asleep at the entrance, lightly covered in snow. He tripped as he ran to her, dropping his bag on the ground, the loud thump startling her awake. But he was the first thing she saw, coming closer to her as she blinked away the blurriness. She was here. He was here. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

Soul whispered her name, leaning down over her body with a hand on her shoulder and she giggled softly, asking him what took him so long to come. It almost brought tears to his eyes at the thought of another universe where he didn't make it in time, where they wouldn't exist together as one.

Shaking his head, he replied with snark to her comment, only to receive more laughter. She was fully awake now, looking up at him with unguarded happiness as she smiled in the only way that could make his heart flutter. He was weak, dropping to one knee immediately in front of her. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

He was going to wait, you know. He didn't know for how long, but he was planning to wait for another moment to pass. Maybe sometime in the future when they were settled down in a nameless town somewhere far away. Maybe after their life had begun anew and maybe after they were comfortably set in their home, warm next to the fireplace with snow falling outside.

At least he had that part. The snow. And maybe even the fire if you counted their burning love between them. He pulled out a small black box from his pocket, opening it to reveal what was inside. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

His voice trembled but he'd never been so sure of something in his whole life. They met in this bell tower. It wasn't farfetch'd that they would become engaged in it as well. During this final night, she was speechless but her answer was clear.

She sat with tears falling down and joining with snow as he slipped the ring onto her finger, never taking her eyes off the boy she'd watched grow into a man. He mumbled something about how it wasn't her birthday present and she shook her head at him, putting both of her cold hands on both of his cheeks and pulling him into a kiss as warm as fire. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.

They left together shortly after with hand in hand. It was a dream of hers to walk through town as one, and she couldn't be more happy to do it as they left the bell tower behind them. Not one day passed when they found out in the town over that the tower had destroyed in an inferno shortly after midnight. Not even the rose garden at the foot of the building survived the blaze.

At the sight of Maka's shock, Soul nudged her arm with his free hand. It was like a symbol, telling them to not to return into the shadows or to hide away there ever again. They did their time, enslaved to expectations and the will of others for too long. With the place gone, they could only move forward.

Soul squeezed her hand, the ring pressing against his fingers. "Hey, I won't let you go. I will protect you, I promise."

Maka rubbed her cheek on his shoulder, banishing the sadness of losing their beloved bell tower. At least they were still together, always together from then on. Free. "I'll protect you, too."

Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.


End file.
